17. Real Jobs

“One of us is going to have to get a job.”

Billy, the aspiring game designer, looked around at his roommates in the crowded apartment.

It may have been in Sydney, Australia or Brooklyn, New York or London, England. Anywhere where rent was high and dreams were so hard to reach.

“I’ve already got a day job,” said Sally, the cartoonist, poking her head over the top bunk of the bed.

“I’ve got a day job and a night job,” said Lizzie, the writer, appearing through the curtains of the bottom bunk.

“I’ve got a day job, a night job and a dawn job,” said Evan, the aspiring illustrator, from the makeshift desk in the linen cupboard, “I start courier deliveries at 4 a.m.”

Only Kenny, the strange guy who lived on the mattress on the balcony, seemed undisturbed. No one was sure what Kenny did. He stared into space a lot.

“We’re going to have to get another job because the rent has gone up again,” Billy said, “And – we might have to take a break from our dreams for a while.”

“Dreaming makes the world go forward!” Sally cried.

Billy’s nostril’s flared, “We can’t eat half-edited novels! And 3D vectors! And cute drawings of cats! And ebooks!”

Everyone had leapt up now as their dire situation became clear.

“How much have you made from your ebooks this year Lizzie?” Billy spun around, “33 cents?”

The room was silent.

Lizzie’s cheeks grew red.

“$17.00,” she murmured.

“$17.00?” they all said incredulously.

Lizzie shrugged.

“That’s enough for a whole pizza!”

The thought of pizza immediately lifted the young people’s spirits. They spilled down the narrow staircase to the overpriced gastropub across the road.

Out on the balcony Ken looked up. He’d got it at last! The artificial neural network algorithm that would propel the next generation of computer technology. Tomorrow he’d go out and pitch it.

After all, dreaming does make the world go forward.

An exercise in micro-fiction – stories which run from zero to fifty

click the Flash Fiction tag for more!

© 2014 M. C. Dulac

Speaking of ebooks, Four Ghost Stories is just 99 cents on Amazon! A spooky read for this Halloween month.